Things I Love Thursdays.

Here it comes, this week's edition of "Things I Love Thursdays!"

On the radar this week are fellow recreational butchers, courtesy of the New York Times. Great article, even though it uses every conceivable butchery anecdote, leaving me to feel a bit like a can of potted meat.

Legendary food writer Jonathan Gold shared his words of wisdom and caution for us aspiring food writers at class on Tuesday. He is quite the inspiration-- had the class hanging on his every word! Just as candidly eloquent (if that makes sense) in person as he is in his columns. Too bad his event at LAPL is full for tonight. Any suggestions on how a lady might sneak in?

My new issue of Meat Paper magazine came in the mail this week! Such a lovely magazine. Gorgeous and full of flavor. In this issue, they set out to determine whether a T-Rex tasted like chicken. The diagram is priceless. Truly the best way to stay on top the trends in the meat world.

KCET (or your local PBS, I'd imagine) has been airing loads of episodes of Julia and Jacques cooking at home. I caught an episode this week about pork and watched Jacques break down an entire rack. His methods and instruction were so simple and straightforward I could imagine someone actually doing it at home for themselves. All the while, Julia towered over him making fabulous yummy sounds and smacking her lips. Now that's classic TV.


And because we really just like cook dinner at home, drink wine, and watch bad TV, I made an somewhat elaborate birthday dinner for the man that I have to share.

We love, love lamb, and these chops were pretty killer. They come with a silly story, too. I usually buy my lamb either from my favorite local butchers, Marconda's Meats or Huntington Meats at the Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax or from Whole Foods, but the giant Ralph's near my house now carries quite a selection. I didn't give it a second glance when it first appeared, as grocery story lamb makes me think of the suspicious meats I remember as a child-- an oozing slab of a mystery cut shrink-wrapped with a little packet of mint-flavored jelly.
Not wanting to be too pretentious, I thought I'd check out Ralph's supply. I then ran into roadblock number two. All of the packages of chops were labeled "Wine and Mustard Marinade." Hm. I kept walking. That didn't seem right.
One more try. Aah. They weren't actually marinated, just topped with a poorly designed, misleading recipe card. So four pretty little lamb chops came home with me and did not get marinated in mustard.
Instead, they were quickly seared in my trusty cast iron and topped with the birthday boy's favorite mint sauce, a zippy seasoned-to-taste puree of fresh mint, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion, salt and pepper.
Delicious. Sweet, spicy, savory and just special enough for a birthday.

Have a protein-packed day!

this week's cut:

elk!



and here's a link to a elk-butchering diagram- well, technically this is goes for any large game meat, which i think i'm on a kick with... maybe it is leading me to taking up a new hobby? we'll see about that.

i think that hunting has been completely misrepresented, perhaps because of hunting purely for sport or perhaps just for meat. the Native American outlook is something to be admired (in my opinion, at least), which is almost reverent. the animals are respected and every part of them used - protein for food, bone for implements, sinew for cordage, fur, feathers, rawhide and leather for clothing... this might be politically incorrect, but i don't understand holding an objection to wearing fur or leather or to hunting (for food, not for sport) but eating meat or being vegetarian/vegan but still wearing fur or leather. to be a good steward of our "resources," shouldn't we be willing to use all parts of an animal? (e.g. last week's buffalo diagram!) i would also like to think that if i am willing to eat meat and wear leather/fur, i would be willing, even just once in my life, to see the process all the way through, from hunting the animal to seeing it on the table. this may not be for everyone and i know i have to accept that, but i think it would be a very rewarding experience. i guess i am still working through my thoughts on this.

just from a health standpoint, i'm pretty fascinated by what i'm learning about the nutrition of eating meat from animals who live in their more "natural" states. i wonder if meats like buffalo and elk would still be lean if they were factory farmed? and are they leaner than beef and chicken in general, or only than meat from factory farmed cows and chickens? i was quite surprised to look at a package of elk from broad leaf game and find that it only had 120 calories and 0 grams of fat! don't get me wrong, i'm defiantely for having some fat in my foods- gosh, i could eat piles of bacon- but it seems so bizarre that there would be that much of a discrepency between tasty game meat and, say, ground beef.



and if you are so inclined, check out these websites:
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (click on the carnivore's kitchen link!)
Wild Eats

my first go at sausage making.

my sausage making experience was everything i'd hoped for. my friend over at tryharder and i made a day of it, starting out with a return trip to huntington meats. let me continue my raving of this excellent butcher-- they were amazingly helpful and when i told them what my mission was, the guy who was helping me got a big grin on his face and pulled out a ragged notebook filled with all of their personal sausage recipes and gave me lots of ideas! how great is that?!

so anyway, they sold me heaps of casings with storage instructions (in the fridge in tupperware with a really lot of salt-- they keep for a long time and then can be rehydrated) and five pounds of pork butt (fyi- total cost: $18). he offered to grind it for me, but i took pride in saying, "no thanks, i'll do it myself!"

so, i think i will just share this process in a photo essay. i will say, at least for a first-timer, it is a two-person job. maybe after a few more tries i will get the hang of it and try it solo, but it is more fun to bring a friend along on the meat fun!

here's the pork after i trimmed the fat and cubed it up.

feeding it through the grinder.

here are the meat worms coming through the other side.

seasoning the ground meat. (we pan-fried a little piece to test for flavor after mixing)

feeding it into the casing. (this was the tamest of the pictures...)

loooong sausage!

twist, and done!

i tweaked the chorizo recipe a bit but i would definately recommend it. nice and spicy with good flavor. will be great to cook with big pots of rice and veggies, but tasty enough just grilled up plain! what flavor should i try next?

ode.

oh, huntington meats, you met my expectations--

you provided us with possibly the loveliest custom-sliced filet mignon we've had for our valentine's day meal, and you answered this lady's nagging questions with ease- even to the point of digging through the freezer so i could inspect packages of elk and venison.

--we'll find out tomorrow if you will exceed them.